Moonwalking

For fans of Jason Reynolds and Jacqueline Woodson, this middle-grade novel-in-verse follows two boys in 1980s Brooklyn as they become friends for a season.

Punk rock-loving JJ Pankowski can't seem to fit in at his new school in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, as one of the only white kids. Pie Velez, a math and history geek by day and graffiti artist by night is eager to follow in his idol, Jean-Michel Basquiat's, footsteps. The boys stumble into an unlikely friendship, swapping notes on their love of music and art, which sees them through a difficult semester at school and at home. But a run-in with the cops threatens to unravel it all.

From authors Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Moonwalking is a stunning exploration of class, cross-racial friendships, and two boys' search for belonging in a city as tumultuous and beautiful as their hearts.

Zetta Elliott is a black feminist writer of poetry, plays, essays, novels, and stories for children. Her poetry has been published in We Rise, We Resist, We Raise our Voices, and her picture book, Bird, won the Honor Award in Lee & Low Books' New Voices Contest and the Paterson Prize for Books for Young Readers. She lives in West Philadelphia.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann is an author, teacher, and librarian. Her books for teens and young readers include Gringolandia, Surviving Santiago. Rogue, and She Persisted: Temple Grandin. As an adult, she was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and delves into her diagnosis often in her writing. She and her husband divide their time between New York City and Lisbon, Portugal.